What We Are
by xonceinadream
Summary: Moments in a life they share. 20 related drabbles for 20 prompts.


**Written for 20 prompts at onceuponaland at livejournal. ********See my livejournal (linked on my profile page) for more** **details.** The prompts are italicized (with the author choice prompts and the changes in their life). The one not italicized is badass. They're in no order.

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Mulan is at Aurora's side when she gives _birth_. It's a difficult process and Mulan feels her fingers go numb as Aurora squeezes her hand. They've given her medicine, plants that are supposed to eliminate the pain but it can only do so much. Even magic is only able to do so much for them. When the baby is delivered, he is immediately put against Aurora's chest. Both women are amazed, gasping as they both touch him. "Charles," Aurora breathes, a name that the two have picked out together. "Charles Phillip." Mulan nods, smiling as Charles lets out a cry.

When Mulan was _a child_ she was told who she would be. She was going to grow up, marry to make her family proud and be a good wife and mother. Mulan had accepted her fate. She had been thankful that she could take on a role that would make her family happy. She looked forward to it and she practiced, helping keep house and pour tea for guests. She was often complimented, told she was going to be a great woman. That was when she started doubting. She didn't want to be a great woman but a great person.

On their travels, Mulan expects to have to protect Aurora. She has seen that Aurora is brave and has a good heart but she doesn't expect how easily that Aurora picks up on things. Before Mulan knows it, Aurora has her own sword and is fighting back to back with Mulan. She is the kind of fighter that Mulan is proud to have protecting her. "Am I good so far?" Aurora asks breathlessly, wiping her brow after a practice. Mulan can only stare at the woman in front of her, heart pounding in her chest. "Very good," Mulan responds softly.

They decorate the nursery together. Aurora has many ideas on what she wants to do for it, stuffed animals that she wants for the child and colors that she wants. "It's going to be a boy," Aurora says with full certainty. "Maleficent told me." And that's that. They don't make it strictly a boy's nursery with purples and yellows and greens but the main color is _blue_. The walls are blue with white clouds painted on the side that makes Mulan smile because she thinks it's so bright and happy. When she mentions it, Aurora just smiles. "That's the point."

As Mulan and Aurora venture to find Phillip, they grow closer. They spend every moment together day and night. They're often by _water_, camping near streams and lakes to have the fresh water and it's always so cold. They cuddle close, arms and legs wrapped around each other to try to conserve warmth. It's one of those nights that it's raining, the water coming down hard and soaking them to the skin that Aurora kisses Mulan for the first time. It's a short kiss and they don't mention it again but Mulan swears she can feel it for weeks afterwards.

Mulan joined the army to rescue her father. She couldn't stay at home because of a vicious curse that would set in and so she left. It was a sacrifice that she willingly took for the people she loved. She had a man she fell in love with who spurned her for lying about her gender. That was when she decided she would never pretend to be anything but a ferocious, fierce _woman who needed no man_ and she decided even more that she would never fall in love again. Love meant heartbreak and she wasn't interested in that again.

Since Aurora has become queen, Mulan feels somewhat uncomfortable. She's never wanted to be _royalty_, never wanted to be anything more than who she is. It feels like she has all of these responsibilities and people who are depending on her and one day she's going to marry Aurora and become… well, something. They haven't figured that out yet. But she's going to become one and it terrifies her. Aurora always just smiles, holds onto her and she knows that it's going to be okay. As long as Aurora is by her side she knows that she can do anything.

For a while, Mulan lets Aurora think that she is still in love with Phillip. She's not anymore but it's easier than telling Aurora how she really feels. It's easier than letting her know that Aurora is who Mulan is in love with now. It's hard, keeping up the _deception_ but it's something that she must do. Although Aurora kissed her, nothing has happened since and she knows better than to try to press it. Aurora's lonely, misses Phillip. She doesn't realize then that she is not the only one keeping secrets about love. She wishes that she had known.

Mulan lets Aurora completely plan the wedding. She hasn't imagined herself getting married in a while. She'd fantasized occasionally but more about the life that she would lead belonging to somebody so completely. So, Aurora plans the wedding. It's a beautiful, private affair that takes place behind the castle. Mulan asks if Aurora would not rather be with her people when she marries but Aurora laughs, shaking her head. "No. All I want is for you and Charles to be there." It makes Mulan's heart swell, the way that Aurora loves her completely. Mulan will never _love_ like this again.

The second that Mulan sees Phillip, she falls deeply for him. She isn't sure what it is, has never truly believed in love at first sight but there's something about him that strikes her. She thinks in that moment of the life that they could lead. She gets to know him, finds out what a ferocious fighter that he is, how committed he is. She falls _in love with the young prince_ and forgets all the reasons she shouldn't. Then he tells her about Aurora and suddenly she remembers. She can't make the love go away even though she tries.

When they're back at the palace, together and giggly and so in love, Aurora makes Mulan be fitted for _dress_es. Mulan isn't interested, doesn't want to go back to the life she once lead but she humors Aurora. She even smiles as Aurora walks around her, tapping her chin and directing the women to bring up a hem here, add a sash there. It's nice to see Aurora do something she truly loves and Mulan is okay with being her human doll. Aurora's stomach is already swelling, making it hard for her to do much and Mulan would do anything.

Mulan wonders sometimes if Aurora would have been happier with Phillip. She hurts, thinking about what it would have been like. Phillip had been so thrilled for a _family_ with Aurora, for a son when he had died. She should feel worse, though, she knows because she considers Charles her son. Her and Aurora choose everything, raise him together. He calls them both his mother as he grows up and Mulan closes her eyes, thinking about how thankful that she is for such a family sometimes. She wouldn't say she's thankful for Phillip's death but she's thankful for her family.

It takes an extraordinarily long time for Mulan to admit that she's _in love with Aurora_. She is still fresh off her heartbreak from losing Phillip. When they find him again, she watches as Phillip runs forward to embrace Aurora and that's when she realizes. She's jealous but not of Phillip's love for Aurora. She's jealous of Aurora's love for her prince. She wants that. It changes her in so many ways to think of the fact that she wants Aurora. She smiles anyway. She doesn't want to get hurt again and she loves Aurora enough to let her go.

One of Aurora's favorite pastimes is to _paint_. Mulan doesn't understand the appeal but Aurora seems to love art of all kind. She's a true princess, singing and playing instruments and sewing. She's so talented at it all too. Mulan sits one day, lets Aurora paint a portrait or her. She doesn't know what to expect. Aurora's paintings are generally hit or miss and she can never know whether it's going to be decent or not. When she sees it, she takes a deep breath. "It's how I see you," Aurora murmurs, reaching out. In the painting, Mulan is beautiful.

The two are prepared to take on the world to rescue Phillip. It's something they've agreed on. They both will risk their life. In the beginning, Mulan had protected Aurora for Phillip. Now she is going to rescue Phillip for Aurora. Of course, she wishes for his safety but it's mostly for Aurora. They work effortlessly, a true _team_. When Aurora steps one way, Mulan seems to know instinctively to move to follow her. Mulan never lets herself think about this. She's worked with many men and women and that's the only reason. It doesn't matter how well they work.

"I have to show you something," Aurora tells Mulan one day, reaching out to take her hand. Charles is with a nanny, being watched over while he naps and Mulan follows Aurora out to the back gardens. Mulan has been out a number of times but Aurora pushes aside a bush and motions for Mulan to follow her through. "It's a special _place_. I used to come here as a girl." Mulan sees why. It's beautiful, flowers blooming all around them and she leans in to kiss Aurora, closing her eyes and pulling the other woman in close to her.

It's not always easy for the two of them. They're both strong-willed and so they _argue_ quite often. It's generally silly things, things that are easily resolved. They'll argue about Charles' schooling, his tutors or his nannies. They argue about who promised they'd do what and who showed up late for dinner. They rarely fight, though. It's only sometimes that they do and then they get nasty. They bring up Phillip and their journey and magic. Those fights are hard to bounce back from, leading to sleepless nights although they always share a bed. They always fall together again, apologizing.

It's intriguing to Mulan, the way that she seems to settle into life as a _family woman_. She had thought that she would hate to do it, would never want to have kids, settle down and be a wife after being told for so long that that was what she had to do but she falls into it remarkably easy. She loves Aurora, loves the child that she considers her own. She never itches to go out on another adventure, content to garden with Aurora and practice sword-fighting with Charles. It's the life that she never wanted but finds perfect.

After Phillip's death, Mulan finally gets the courage to confess her love for Aurora. Aurora is uncertain about things, still so newly pregnant with emotions that tended to go all over the place. Mulan tells Aurora that she has a _choice_ to make. There are three choices, Mulan tells her. She can stay as a friend, a confidante and everything they were before. She can leave and never return. Or they can try to see where love takes them. Aurora seems hesitant, as if she's betraying Phillip's memory but she confesses her love. And really it seems an easy choice.

Mulan will never forget how she felt when Aurora told her that she was expecting. _Heartbreak_ was an understatement. It had been a horrible kind of pain. The worst part was that Mulan couldn't tell Aurora how she felt. She had done the honorable thing, had left and she hadn't regretted it. She knew that she couldn't expect Aurora to return her feelings. She was in love with Phillip and they would be married. She still dreams about it, about Aurora choosing Phillip when given a choice. Aurora holds her through it and promises that she will love Mulan forever.


End file.
